Presentation at Grace, Brenham

Melissa, April, and I

Melissa, April, and I arrived at Grace Lutheran Church in Brenham, Texas on March 21, 2013. We were the featured speakers at the regular meeting of "Texas Confessional Lutherans," the topic: What Is A Deaconess? How Can She Help Our Congregation?


  Mother, Sheila, and I left home at about the time we intended to. It probably would've been good to be a few minutes earlier, but things worked out. For a while, though, it looked like we were going to run late… The suspension system that makes my van wheelchair accessible was acting up: I imagine that this is what riding in a low-ridah would feel like.

At Zion, Tomball we picked up Melissa. Since April was coming from Katy, it did not make sense for her to carpool with us. We all arrived at Grace, found the room, got everything in order, and visited. It has been at least five years since I went to a TCL meeting, maybe ten. Both Mother and I simply don't recover from changes in routine like we used to. (For Example: since this meeting on Thursday, we have all stayed home. Friday and Saturday, my breathing has been more difficult. Beautiful blue bonnets and other wildflowers and trees are pollinating my lungs as well as everything else.) Melissa's presentation was an excellent overview of the history of deaconesses in the LCMS. She referred to two books than I am very familiar with. The first: was one of my favorites in one of my classes. It talked about how women served God's people, mostly in Eastern Christianity. Prayer, martyrdom, caring for the sick, caring for other women, caring for the orphaned, caring for women in pagan households, helping with baptisms of women, teaching… The list is long and varied. Then, almost 1000 years passed without deaconesses. The other book brings history into the 21st century, covering deaconesses in the LCMS. I absolutely loved these books. I loved the history. It was good to hear it again, and I think everyone there enjoyed listening.

 April and lost her voice and was using her computer to speak for her. A large part of her presentation was about her work at Krause Children’s Center in Katy, Texas. I had no idea about this vital work! Apparently though, the 70-hour work week and her deep love for the children she was serving took its toll. She's still volunteers there. Again, I think everyone enjoyed the presentation.

In my case, two mice didn't work well, so I had two manipulate the PowerPoint with voice recognition. It made things a little bit more complicated. It created several opportunities for humor. And yes, computers are processed. Anyhow, my presentation is here. I enjoyed doing this. It seemed to be well received, And there was lots of follow-up discussion . While I see a million ways to improve on it now, I'm content.